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Take The Lead: A Revolutionary Approach To Coaching Cross Country by Will Freeman and Scott Simmons. A reread from last year, I did this as a sort of refresher as cross country practice starts next week. I'm glad I read it since it reminded me of a few things I'd forgotten and given me a few ideas for the upcoming season.

24 Declassified: Veto Power. Picked this novel up at the Dollar Tree. Set in the time before season 1 of '24'. A quick, easy read for the gym. The stories are stand-alone, and there are about five or six in the series. I've read one other, and might have to track the others down.

One More River: the Rhine Crossings of 1945 by Peter Allen. A in-depth account at the final natural barrier facing the Allies before entering Germany. Starts off in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge and goes to late March, early April 1945, and includes all parties involved: German, American, British, Canadian, etc...

One of my favorite authors, William Least Heat-Moon, apparently released a book of some of his essays earlier this year (it never made it to my local library, so I went about half a year without knowing it existed), titled Here, There, Elsewhere. He is wordy but not rambling, elevated in language but still accessible, knowledgeable but not arrogant. In relatively short pieces, it took me about a week to finish it. They are from his travels across the world, and his interactions with the locals. Mainly I enjoy his observations and allusions to history, language, philosophy, and geography. He has another book due out in a month or so on Native Americans, so I won't be so late in getting to that one this time.

"I went to Star Wars Celebration VII in Anaheim, and I didn't get even a lousy t-shirt."

William Shakespeare's Star Wars. The Baird's approach to A New Hope. I picked it up on a whim over the weekend. It's a pretty interesting and funny read. Reading some of the classic SW lines in Old English prose outloud is a hoot.

King Rat by James Clavell. I first read this in my 20th Century Wars class in high school, this was the second time since then that I've read KR. The book is set during the end of WW2 on a Pacific Island where 10,000 pow's are kept by the Japanese. The main character is a trader who's been able to scrape out a living amid the starvation of the camp.

One Second After by William Forstchen. America gets hit with a couple of EMP bomb's, and things go really bad. The story is set in rural South Carolina.

Newest "Chet and Bernie" detective series book, The Sound and the Furry, by Spencer Quinn. Sad to say, but I'd consider this the least good of the series so far. I attribute it to being so far out of their area (in the New Orleans/bayou region). We do find out specifically where they live (spoiler alert: it's Arizona... but no surprise there, based on descriptions). Chet meets various animals (including a gator) and is on a boat for his first time. Fairly anti-climatic ending, but still enough funny parts.

"I went to Star Wars Celebration VII in Anaheim, and I didn't get even a lousy t-shirt."

While listed as a YA book (and author in general), Lemony Snicket's Who Can That Be at This Hour? was hilarious. I think this may be another series by the SoUE author, where he is the main character himself.

Yes, it is apparently a series, All the Wrong Questions, and I finished the second book, When Did You See Her Last?. Not as LOL-level funny as I recall the first book was, but still quite humorous. There is a missing man, a hidden villain (who makes an appearance here, in disguise), a stolen item (like a Maltese Falcon statue), a secret invisible ink formula, and many mysterious other characters. I'd guess about 5+ books into the series, some of these questions might be closer to answered.

This is my 50th book read this year; if I can read 2 more, that's a one-per-week average for 2013.

"I went to Star Wars Celebration VII in Anaheim, and I didn't get even a lousy t-shirt."

Over and Back: Mickey Crowe: The Strange and Troubled Life Of A Wisconsin High School Basketball Legend. Mickey Crowe in the early 70's set the all time Wisconsin boys hs basketball scoring record. He led the nation in points per game as a senior with over 41. However things went down for Mickey, drugs, alcohol and eventually mental illness. I got my copy of the book at a book signing by the author and Mickey (he played for a small rural high school in the same county I live in).